Meta

A picturebook a week: The Princess and the Presents

Posted on Jun 17, 2014

Caryl Hart (text) & Sarah Warburton (illustrations)(Nosy Crow)

Princess Ruby is a very spoilt princess and as her birthday approaches, she makes demand after demand, which become gradually more ludicrous. When the fateful day arrives, she eventually is content with her lot, until a disaster threatens to take it all away. But when push comes to shove, what will spoilt Ruby really want to safeguard most of all?

Caryl Hart and Sarah Warburton make a welcome return after their first collaboration,The Princess and the Peas (you can read my review here) with the mischievous The Princess and the Presents and though the princesses could not be any more different, the theme of fatherly love is recurrent and although tackled slightly differently, brings once more a modern, refreshing and positive image of fatherhood. Ruby could definitely give Veruca Salt a run for her money, but thankfully learn the errors of her ways in this vibrant and comical cautionary tale.
Sarah Warburton’s drawings are vibrant and bursting with energy. The use of the rather bright shade of pink is particularly effective at highlighting Ruby’s unreasonable princessey behaviour. Little readers might notice that in fact, in the last spread, her attire is indeed much different. Caryl Hart has a knack for creating text which facilitates an easy read-aloud and this is no exception. It reads fluidly, with lots of rhymes that create a good tempo within the text.